VIDEO: Japanese pensioners get levitating chair

Japanese pensioners are set to get levitating chairs that work like hovercrafts, suspending the occupant on a cushion of air and allowing them to zoom around with none of that pesky friction messing around with things.

The device has been created by researchers at Kobe Gakuin University, who mounted air compressors to the bottom of a chair. It doesn't work on rugs yet, or on tatami mats, but on a hard surface you're fine. As a result, it's just a prototype for now - though the researchers are looking for funding so it's entirely possible that a more advanced version could follow.

Another version of the device sees the air boosters strapped to a tatami mat that you sit directly on, like a flying carpet. Would you trust either with your life? Let us know in the comments.